THE FUTURE OF THE
iPHONE DIGITAL WALLET
BOX OFFICE TOP 20: ‘SOLO’ TOPS
CHARTS WITH $103 MILLION
APPLE AND VALVE: A DREAM
GAMING COLLABORATION
08 108
38
FROM DRONES TO PHONES,
NEW TECH IS MAKING
GARDENING EASIER
TOP 10 APPS 88 iTUNES REVIEW 92 TOP 10 SONGS 156 TOP 10 ALBUMS 158 TOP 10 MUSIC VIDEOS 160 TOP 10 TV SHOWS 162 AMAZON: ECHO DEVICE SENT CONVERSATION TO FAMILY’S CONTACT 22
AFTER AMAZON ECHO MISFIRE, WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR OWN PRIVACY 26
HANDS-FREE DRIVING LAW TO TAKE EFFECT JUNE 1 32
KANSAS TESTING DRONES FOR DESIGNING ROADS 54
JURY SAYS SAMSUNG MUST PAY $539M FOR COPYING PARTS OF iPHONE 66
BNSF SAYS IT ON TRACK FOR SAFETY TECHNOLOGY INSTALLATION 72
NEED AN ENTRY-LEVEL JOB AT A STORE? IT CAN BE HARDER NOW 76
IN ‘SOLO’ STUMBLE, A CROSSROADS FOR DISNEY’S ‘STAR WARS’ 118
INDIANAPOLIS SCIENCE INSTITUTE GETS $33M FOR HEALTH RESEARCH 128
BOEING PLEDGES $1.5M FOR STEM TO NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM 130
TRUMP AIMS TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR COMPANIES TO GET TO SPACE 134
NOT SO EASY: TRUMP’S TRADE AGENDA HITS STUMBLING BLOCKS 136
AHEAD OF ROSS VISIT, US GROUP CALLS ON CHINA TO OPEN MARKETS 144
EXXON AIMS TO BOOST PRODUCTION EVEN WITH ANY CLIMATE RULES 150
FRANCE TO BEEF UP EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM ON SOCIAL MEDIA 166
HACKER SENTENCED TO 5 YEARS FOR MAJOR YAHOO SECURITY BREACH 170
Formerly known as Passbook, Wallet is Apple’s answer to digitizing cards. With it, the credit cards, debit cards, transport tickets and even loyalty cards that are weighing your wallet or purse down can all be turned into virtual versions of themselves so that you can easily access them anytime, anywhere. Plus, with the addition of Apple Pay, you can easily pay for your next cofee without having to ind the correct change.
With this year’s WWDC drawing closer, rumors are now beginning to circulate about what
Apple might have in store not only for iOS 12 but for the way that it allows users to interact with their digital wallet in the very near future.
FROM PASSBOOK TO WALLET
When you’re in a hurry, it can be frustrating to trawl through your wallet or purse to try and ind the correct payment or loyalty card. With that in mind and the fact that most of us tend to walk around with our smartphones glued to our hands, Apple devised Passbook which irst appeared on iOS 6 in 2012.
A few years later, in 2015, Apple made a few major announcements to the payment system. Most notably, rebranding it to Wallet. The single app consolidates all of a user’s cards into one place, turning it into a payment-centric service. As part of this, users could also beneit from Apple Pay to make contactless payments in participating establishments. Since then, most major retail stores have started accepting this type of payment.
examples include American Airlines and
Walgreens) so that whenever you buy a ticket or sign up to a rewards card, the app can pass the barcode to your Wallet app. However, to add unoicially supported cards, the app Pass2U Wallet allows you to bring almost anything into Wallet – even your local library card.
Many cards that you’ve added to your Wallet will automatically refresh things like your balance or your light gate numbers; sometimes your connection might be lost. Luckily, they can quickly be refreshed to ensure you’ve always got the most accurate information.
WALLET AND APPLE PAY:
ARE YOUR FINANCES SAFE?
As with most new technology, the release of Apple Pay in 2014 brought up a few privacy and security concerns. Apple Pay works thanks to a near-ield communication (NFC) chip very much like those used in contactless credit and debit cards. Along with Touch ID (or Face ID for iPhone X users), you can make secure payments by touching your phone onto a payment terminal.
Pass2U Wallet By MicroMacro Mobile Inc. Category: Shopping
the risk of data breaches and credit card theft because transactions don’t produce any data that may be reused.
Perhaps the most signiicant diference between Apple Pay and other payment systems is that it’s user-centric. It has not been made with credit card companies or retailers in mind, but rather for ordinary consumers who are seeking a better way to pay. The only catch is that, as it stands, it’s not accepted everywhere…yet.
A BIG LEAP FOR WALLET IN iOS 12
iOS 12 could be opening doors with NFC technology…literally.
Recent rumors have circulated around the idea that iOS 12 may be giving some third-party developers full access to the NFC chip inside iPhones, expanding its capabilities. Reports claim that Apple wants users to use their iPhone for more than contactless Apple Pay payments, and also to work as a hotel door key or even a virtual transit card for your car.
company that makes transit cards, in hopes to replace these cards with iPhone NFC technology. Those that work at Apple Park are already using their phones to gain access to campus buildings, proving that it is certainly secure.
WHAT ABOUT GLOBAL
CRYPTOCURRENCIES?
While it’s clear that Apple is keeping up with the times (as always), many continue to wonder when the company will inally fully embrace the burgeoning trend of cryptocurrency.
Back when Apple announced that iOS 11 would allow users to transfer cash to one another, many saw this as a Trojan horse for something much bigger. The money that your friend has just sent you would be stored in a new card, called Apple PayCash. This is a digital currency that stores value – Apple’s own cryptocurrency? With the rise of cryptocurrency, there’s a
huge need for more luid cash low between countries to service internationalized
update that allows users to store their cryptocurrency in a kind of Pay Vault.
It seems almost foolish to dismiss the
importance of Apple Pay to the company’s future provision plans. New estimates published at the beginning of this year
suggest that the service now has 127 million active users, up from 62 million the year
before. With these igures, it’s clear that Apple
is well on its way to creating a global platform-based payment ecosystem that could evolve into an international currency as big as Bitcoin or Ethereum. With the forthcoming release of iOS 12, the ability to open your car door with your iPhone may only be the start of what’s to come for Wallet.
An “unlikely” string of events prompted Amazon’s Echo personal assistant device to record a
Portland, Oregon, family’s private conversation and then send the recording to an acquaintance in Seattle, the company said last week.
The woman told KIRO-TV that two weeks ago an employee of her husband contacted them to say he thought their device had been hacked. He told them he had received an audio ile of them discussing hardwood loors, she said.
In a statement, Amazon conirmed the woman’s private conversation had been inadvertently recorded and sent. The company said the device interpreted a word in the background
AMAZON: ECHO
DEVICE SENT
CONVERSATION
TO FAMILY’S
conversation as “Alexa” — a command that makes it wake up — and then it interpreted the conversation as a “send message” request.
“At which point, Alexa said out loud ‘To whom?’” the statement said. “At which point, the
background conversation was interpreted as a name in the customers contact list.
“Alexa then asked out loud, ‘(contact name), right?’ Alexa then interpreted background conversation as ‘right.’”
The statement continued: “As unlikely as this string of events is, we are evaluating options to make this case even less likely.”
The woman, who was identiied only by her irst name in the news report, said every room in her family’s home was wired with the Amazon devices to control her home’s heat, lights and security system.
She said the family unplugged the devices and contacted Amazon after they learned the recording had been sent.
Ryan Calo, a law professor who co-directs the University of Washington’s tech policy lab,
agreed that the sort of glitch Amazon described is unlikely. But it may trouble customers
nevertheless, he said
Revelations that an Amazon Echo smart speaker inadvertently sent a family’s private conversation to an acquaintance highlights some unexpected risks of new voice-enabled technologies.
According to Amazon, the fault was an “unlikely” series of inadvertent vocal cues that triggered the speaker, caused it to begin recording and then led it to interpret subsequent conversation as a “send message” request.
There’s no way to eliminate these sorts of privacy risks short of unplugging entirely. But you can minimize the odds of unpleasant privacy surprises with these tips:
AFTER AMAZON
ECHO MISFIRE,
WAYS TO
PROTECT YOUR
— KILL THE MIC:
Most smart speakers have a physical button to disable the microphone, so a private conversation can’t be recorded to begin with. You can hit that when you’re having sensitive conversations. The button on the Echo will turn red; other devices have similar cues. It doesn’t make sense to keep the mic disabled throughout the day, though. If the Echo can’t hear you, it won’t be able to order you more toilet paper or play smooth jazz.— LIMIT THE MIC:
Disabling the microphone isn’t practical on a smartphone, but you can limit what apps have access to it. Go to the settings and turn of mic access to all but essential apps such as voice recorders or video conferencing. Netlix doesn’t really need voice access; you can simply type the name of the show you’re searching for.— BLOCK THE SIGNALS:
For smartphones and other gadgets you carry with you, a “Faraday bag” that blocks electromagnetic waves can help prevent unwanted spying. The good ones will block cellular and other signals, meaning privacy-compromising information such as your location won’t leak out either. Just remember, your phone won’t get any calls while it’s in the bag — that’s the whole point.— BE INFORMED:
Apple, Samsung and other tech companies have worked over the years to ensure that their products work “out of the box,” without users having to pore through lengthy manuals and operating instructions. The downside is that users are often unaware of all the things their gadgets can do, good or bad. Checking reputable online reviews, how-to guides and even instructional videos will help you get the most out of new technologies. They’ll also tell you about any known glitches and risks. Of course, the safest approach is not to buy a new gadget in the irst place. That might not be practical for smartphones these days, but do you really need a smart speaker or a television set that’s connected to the internet? (As it turns out, it’s actually diicult to buy a TV without “smart” capabilities these days, but nothing says you have to connect it at home.)From toothbrushes to slow cookers to toys, if companies can dream it up, it’s out there.
State Police Sgt. Greg Cunningham wants you to know that starting Friday, you’re going to get a ticket if a trooper spots you holding your phone while driving.
The state passed a hands-free-driving law last year that takes efect June 1, and state oicials and law enforcement have been working to make sure Rhode Island drivers are aware of the new rules. Drivers will no longer be able to hold their cellphone to their ear, or in front of their face, or really at all.
“Leave the phone alone,” Cunningham said. “It’s that simple.”
Those behind the wheel can still talk on the phone with Bluetooth or other hands-free technology, but they’re allowed to use their hands only to activate or end a call. If caught, drivers will face a ine up to $100 for the irst infraction. There will be a irst-time-only waiver if those drivers show they have purchased hands-free equipment before the ticket payment is due. Cunningham said the fees increase from there, and drivers can have their licenses suspended after a third infraction.
Rhode Island law already prohibited texting while driving. It joins 15 other states, including nearby Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire and Vermont, in enforcing a hands-free law. Massachusetts notably doesn’t have a similar law, but its legislature is considering one.
Rhode Island oicials said there will be signs at all major border crossings to warn drivers from adjacent states about the new rules.
Cunningham said there will be extra patrols, including by unmarked cruisers, to enforce the law.
“The point is very simple: It’s to make the roads safer,” he said.
That’s important, according to Kara Macek, spokeswoman for the Governors Highway Safety Association. She said the hands-free policy is only the irst step, and it needs to be strongly enforced if it’s going to change behavior.
Macek said research from the National Highway Traic Safety Administration showed the laws could help limit distracted driving, but she cautioned the data are inconclusive.
Deaths in crashes resulting from distracted driving actually declined in 2016, the last year for which data are available, though many believe the problem is worse than the data shows, Macek said.
Some argue it’s the activity of using, not holding a phone, that is the true source of distraction. “The data and science does show that there are degrees of distractions and that any
conversation can be distracting,” Macek said. No state currently bans all cellphone use.
THE FUTURE OF MOBILE GAMING
Mobile gaming is big business. Smartphone gaming apps account for $50 billion of the $115 billion gaming market, with 80% of all App Store revenue coming from gaming releases alone. It all started back in 1997 when Nokia shipped the Snake game with its mobile phones, and ever since, consumers have been looking for new ways to relax and unwind with a new gaming distraction.
For Apple, gaming is one of the biggest selling points for its iPhone and iPod Touch ranges, with the Cupertino irm regularly developing more advanced hardware designed to take gaming to the next level. But despite super-powerful A11 chips and new developments in augmented reality, PC gaming is still king, with new titles such as Far Cry 5, Monster Hunter: World and State of Decay 2 dominating this year’s gaming headlines.
For mobile gaming to catch up, it needs to ofer cross-platform gameplay, similar to the blockbuster success of Fortnite, which is available to play on iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and macOS. The multi-million dollar success of the rival Fortnite game, which has allowed one successful
gaming streamer to make $500,000 a month, has opened up new possibilities for better
Apple-Steam relationship and asking whether a company tie-up could change how we play video games forever.
HOW APPLE TRANSFORMED THE MOBILE
GAMING MARKET
Since the introduction of the App Store almost ten years ago, gaming has played a huge role in Apple’s iOS ecosystem. Games like Angry Birds, Clash of Clans, Flappy Bird and more recently Pokemon Go have all made millions of dollars and spawned movies and merchandise,
bringing casual gamers to the forefront. Online gaming, once considered for nerds and geeks, was now ‘cool’ and the ‘in thing’.
Apple was unique in that it gave developers easy access to its platform and full use of
users’ powerful touch-screen hardware. Unlike PC gaming, Apple’s closed-of approach
meant developers were designing software for just one device - everyone had the same specs and capabilities, so games could be optimized to maximize play and deliver the ultimate experience.
In fact, Apple was considered so ahead of its competitors, Android and Windows, that many predicted the irm would launch their own console to compete with Microsoft and Sony, but these rumors never lead to anything concrete.
In the early days of smartphone gaming, the App Store was the place to be. The Store
Revenge and Sega’s Super Monkey Ball were released. And from there, the mobile gaming revolution was born.
Freemium gaming apps have changed the way developers think about their products, allowing them to invest millions of dollars in free-to-play games. As well as in-app advertising, Apple’s in-app purchases option means that developers can charge for add-ons, time-saving features, and other nice-to-have beneits, while the core functionality of the game can remain free for all players. This approach to business is vastly diferent from old-fashioned PC games, that were regularly sold in boxes for upwards of $50. Now, consumers can try out a game for free and remove it as soon as they want - there’s no need to invest or feel short-changed.
But the biggest thing that Apple brought to mobile gaming was the masses. In quarter one of 2011, Apple sold an impressive 15 million iPhones; but by quarter two of 2016, the
company had sold 51.19 million.
Tim Sweeney, CEO and of Epic Games, said Apple was partly responsible for bringing “3.5 billion new computing device owners into the market in the form of smartphones and tablets and billions of new gamers” and added that it was “one of the greatest events in the history of the game industry.”
STEAM HAS REVOLUTIONIZED
PC GAMING
the idea of the platform is to provide gamers a ‘hub’ to buy and download new releases to their computers. And it worked; today, the platform is used by more than 67 million gamers.
As well as partnering up with big gaming
houses to release games, the company’s Steam Greenlight service allows indie developers to submit early beta versions of their games to give users the ability to beta test new games and features. Not only does this improve developer-gamer relations, but it helps small businesses make their irst steps in the gaming market.
One of the biggest beneits of Steam over other online gaming options is the price. Because games can be downloaded and updated right from within the Steam app, there’s no need for a physical CD or DVD, so production and retail costs can be low. Award-winning Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, for example, is ofered on Steam at 60% of its original RRP - a considerable discount. It’s just one of the
reasons why Steam now controls an estimated 70% of the PC gaming market.
As well as price, Steam allows users to download games on whatever devices they choose. The hassle of installing your favorite game on a new computer is no more, as Steam will port over progress and achievements that you’ve made, so long as you have an internet connection.
COMBINING THE BEST OF DESKTOP AND
SMARTPHONE GAMING
Not content on dominating PC gaming, Steam now wants to head into the lucrative smartphone market with a brand new Link app. The idea behind the new app is simple - to allow gamers to stream content from their Mac or PC over a wired Ethernet or 5GHz wireless network to their iOS or tvOS devices. In short, the app would allow traditional PC gamers to play their favorite titles using their smartphones; so long as they have WiFi and leave their PC or Mac device online with the Steam interface open.
If the app was approved and added to the App Store, it would mean that powerful games that require an expensive processor, a suped-up graphics card and signiicant RAM and memory can be played in the palm of your hands -
ofering PC-like gaming performance wherever you are in the world.
While Steam’s new smartphone app was rejected from the App Store initially, many predict that the companies will soon come to some agreement and have a modiied version available in the coming months. After all, Apple and Valve have worked together in the past, with the companies partnering to bring SteamVR - new virtual reality technology that ofers 90 FPS - to macOS.
the issue” and bring the app to the App Store soon.
Speaking in an email to concerned customers and Reddit users, who reached out to Apple after the app was rejected, Schiller said that Apple cares “deeply about bringing great
games to all of our users on the App Store,” but that his “review team found that Valve’s Steam iOS app violates a number of guidelines around user-generated content, in-app purchases,
content codes, etc.”
The suspected reason behind the rejection of the app is Apple’s lack of control over the Steam marketplace. “I could see a very real situation where many people just straight up stop buying things from the App Store and exclusively
purchase Steam games through Valve instead,” Eli Hodapp, of TouchArcade, said.
Valve is yet to comment on the proposed changes, and it’s not currently clear when a tweaked version of the Steam Link app will be available for purchase, but all signs lead to a positive outcome and a product that makes PC gaming even more accessible on the go. Until then, we’ll have to stick to games like Pocket Build and Heads Up!, in hopes that the next wave of PC gaming is just around the corner.
Pocket Build By MoonBear LTD Category: Games
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Heads Up! By Warner Bros. Category: Games
Kansas transportation oicials are beginning a pilot project to determine how drones could be used in future road design work.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that last week marked the irst time the Kansas Department of Transportation has employed drone technology in conjunction with a road project.
The department has contracted the Kirkham Michael engineering irm to operate the ixed-wing drone back and forth above part of the US-75 highway in northern Jackson County. The device is equipped with a still camera that takes hundreds of images of the terrain below.
KANSAS TESTING
DRONES FOR
DESIGNING
The Transportation Department is looking at making US-75 safer between Holton in Jackson County and Fairview in Brown County. The department and the engineering irm are
collaborating on the project and will survey and design a passing lane and 2-mile section of US-75.
There are many advantages to using drones to do survey work for road projects, said Wayne Scritchield, municipal engineer for Kirkham Michael.
Another advantage is the time diference
between using drones and doing conventional survey work, which requires workers on the ground, according to Scritchield.
“We’ll have the drone up about an hour-and-a-half to two hours,” he said. “It would take weeks to do it conventionally.”
Oicials could use drones for road work in the future if the pilot is successful.
“It’s new technology,” said Ron Feldkamp,
New technology is easing the way we garden, store equipment, monitor watering and re-shape landscapes. And some of those tasks can be done remotely, using phones or tablets.
The innovations extend well beyond downloading a few apps. New to the horticultural mix are 3-D modeling, GPS mapping, laser technology, drones, robotics, devices that can read the weather and
moisture in the soil for precision planting and irrigation, and battery-powered and low- or no-emission equipment.
FROM DRONES
TO PHONES,
“We are seeing an uptick in landscape
professionals using advanced technology to plan designs for clients,” said Missy Henriksen, vice president of public afairs for the National Association of Landscape Professionals.
“Today, professionals are using drones to survey homeowner properties to get a birds-eye view before and during the design-creation phase,” she said. “Drones can also help landscape companies save valuable operational and manpower time that can be used elsewhere on a project.”
Three-D modeling also helps streamline
landscape design. It can provide a clear picture for homeowners of their property’s potential, Henriksen said.
Upgrades in battery technology have hastened the move toward lighter, easier-to-carry
garden tools.
“Cordless tools that use storage batteries ofer the most lexibility and freedom to move around your yard because you don’t have to worry
about cords getting in your way,” Henriksen said.
A number of companies build multi-purpose engines that are used to equip a variety of implements ranging from walk-behind and rider mowers to power washers, snowblowers and more.
Other innovations have further simpliied small engines by eliminating manual chokes and purge bulbs. Just pull the handle once to start.
Consumers want easy, and many of these innovations are boosting purchases, said Michelle Gross, a Briggs & Stratton marketing specialist.
“Our own surveys of consumers indicate that ease of maintenance continues to be in the top 10 purchase factors for walk-behind mowers,” Gross said. “And the No. 1 thing people say they would like to improve after owning a lawnmower is the sound level.”
Mowers equipped with Briggs & Stratton’s Quiet Power Technology make roughly 50 percent less noise, meaning homeowners can do yard work any time of the day without disturbing neighbors, Gross said.
Eicient storage for lawn and garden equipment makes for less garage clutter
and creates space for recreational items like kayaks and mountain bikes.
Another new Briggs & Stratton design allows lawnmowers to be folded in half and stored upright without causing fuel or oil leaks. It reduces their footprint by up to 70 percent, Gross said.
Scotts, meanwhile, recently introduced a series of devices for precision irrigation.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates traditional irrigation systems
“Our goal is to give homeowners simple ways to use water more resourcefully and responsibly, and to make watering and caring for your lawn easier and more eicient,” said Josh Peoples, president and general manager of Scotts.
“From using a smartphone to monitor sprinklers and the moisture in plant soil to only watering in speciic areas where plants need it, we’re committed to providing efortless ways to not only conserve water, but also to inspire people to grow, indoors or out.”
Online :
A jury has decided Samsung must pay Apple $539 million in damages for illegally copying some of the iPhone’s features to lure people into buying its competing products.
The verdict reached last week is the latest twist in a legal battle that began in 2011. Apple contends Samsung wouldn’t have emerged as the world’s leading seller of smartphones if it hadn’t ripped of the technology powering the pioneering iPhone in developing a line of similar devices running on Google’s Android software. Previous rulings had already determined that Samsung infringed on some of Apple’s patents, but the amount of damages owed has been hanging in legal limbo. Another jury convened for a 2012 trial had determined Samsung should
Apple ignited the
smartphone revolution
pay Apple $1.05 billion, but U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh reduced that amount to $548 million. The issue escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court, which determined in 2016 that a lower court needed to re-examine $399 million of the $548 million. That ruling was based on the concept that the damages shouldn’t be based on all the proits that the South Korean electronics giant rung up from products that copied the iPhone because its infringement may only have violated a few patents.
Apple had argued it was owed more than $1 billon while Samsung contended the $399 million should be slashed to $28 million. The revised damages igure represents a victory for Apple, even though it isn’t as much as the Cupertino, California, company had sought.
“Today’s decision lies in the face of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favor of Samsung on the scope of design patent damages,” Samsung said in a statement. “We will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity and fair competition for all companies and consumers.”
An eight-person jury came up with the new amount following a one-week trial and four days of deliberation in a San Jose, California, federal courthouse.
Apple expressed gratitude to the jury for
agreeing “that Samsung should pay for copying our products.”
“This case has always been about more than
BNSF Railway is one of the irst railroads to fully implement new safety technology that will be required by federal regulators by the end of the year, a company
spokeswoman said.
The new technology, known as positive train control, is designed to automatically slow or stop a train to prevent accidents such as a collision with another train or a derailment caused by excessive speed.
BNSF SAYS IT ON
TRACK FOR SAFETY
TECHNOLOGY
BNSF has spent more than a decade
developing and deploying PTC technology at a cost of more than $2.2 billion, according to spokeswoman Amy McBeth. She told KSTP-TV the company is one of the irst to fully implement the technology across all locomotives and mandated routes. All railroad companies must have it in place by the end of 2018 to meet a federal mandate.
“I think people would be surprised to realize how high tech the railroad is,” McBeth said. “If something were to happen and the crew doesn’t respond, PTC would take over and stop that train in certain circumstances to prevent an incident from happening.”
KSTP-TV reports the system gives the operator a warning using a complex network of GPS technology, track sensors and radio towers to constantly monitor the train’s speed, the grade it is traveling and the track ahead. If the engineer doesn’t take action, the computer can take control of the train to ensure it slows down to an acceptable speed to round a bend or even stop to avoid a crash.
And while BNSF may be on track, a recent report from the federal Government
Accountability Oice study found that as many as two-thirds of the nation’s 29
commuter railroads weren’t expected to meet the deadline, and that some of them were unlikely to make enough progress to merit a two-year extension.
Asia Thomas knew she was at a disadvantage. It had been 16 years since she quit a job at McDonald’s to raise her kids. When she left, restaurants didn’t have kiosks to take orders, people didn’t use smartphones to pay, and job seekers did applications on paper.
“Things have changed,” said Thomas, who lives in Baltimore. “And there were a lot of things I forgot.” Getting a job at a store or fast-food restaurant — often a way into the economy for an unskilled worker — used to be as simple as walking up and down the mall and applying. Now, with store chains closing and laying of thousands of workers, that path is more complicated.
The stores that remain inancially healthy are actually raising wages in a tight labor market. But they’re seeking a new type of worker — one who has a lot more skills up front.
Thomas, 44, was able to get a job at wholesale club B.J.’s for $12 an hour — but that was only after signing up for computer lessons and taking a class in retail basics like how to track inventory and handle issues like returns. That led her to another opportunity at a casino.
Across all entry-level retail jobs, the number of skills being demanded rose from 2010 to 2016, according to an analysis done for The Associated Press by Burning Glass Technologies, which
scours 25 million job postings.
Burning Glass found a greater emphasis on customer service and communications skills for cashier, stock clerk and sales loor support jobs. And for many other entry-level jobs, employers want even more skills, like the ability to use customer relations software like Salesforce. Even forklift operators are being asked to be proicient in inventory management software.
This has major consequences for workers
without college degrees or vocational training trying to get an economic foothold. A decade ago, workers, especially young ones, could start as cashiers and move up to become store managers or even higher. But now, it’s harder to even get in the door.
“The bottom may be coming out of the career ladder,” said Burning Glass CEO Matt Sigelman.
The number of jobs in those ields is expected to grow far more than in retail. While these jobs may pay about the same as retail, they can be more demanding physically and provide less opportunity to move up.
“This phenomenon is creating more pressure on incomes at the lower end of the middle class and will push people down closer to and even below the poverty line,” said Fred Crawford, senior vice chairman of consulting irm
AlixPartners. “It will exacerbate the growing gap between the haves and have-nots.”
These changes are being driven by companies’ use of large amounts of data not available a generation ago. Supermarkets, for instance, use loyalty programs to better track customers’ shopping habits. Clothing chains are now
quickly reacting to the latest fashion trends, adjusting the merchandise on store shelves within days. That means front-line workers must do more.
Take cashiers. Employers asked for ive skills in 2016, up from three in 2010. The job often requires running sophisticated registers that track loyalty cards, digital coupons and real-time inventory.
“We are looking for workers who are not only friendly and passionate but people who are tech-savvy,” said Marisa Velez, store director of DSW Designer Warehouse in New York’s Union Square.
Getting a job as a
store cashier or a
sales assistant _ often
an easy way into
the economy for an
At DSW, Phoebe Li swiftly navigates the aisles stacked with boxes of shoes, seeing if customers need help while she scans an iPad to check on online inventory. The tablets DSW uses will soon be able to ring up a sale as well. “If I see someone bending down looking for a size, I ask them, “How is everything?’” said Li, 24, who has worked at DSW part-time since February.
“Customers are coming in with limited time,” Velez said. “They’re rushing. They want what they are looking for. We’re able to expedite that through the app, through the iPad and making sure we are respecting their time while still capturing the sale.”
Online home goods retailer Wayfair is
increasingly looking for customer service and warehouse workers with problem-solving skills. Its employees help customers design a room, or they igure out how to pack a truck without damaging fragile items. So it’s now recruiting gamers at places like Comic Con for those roles, said Liz Graham, who oversees customer service and sales.
Nearly a third of all irst jobs in the U.S. are in retail. But 62 percent of service-sector workers, which includes jobs like cashiers and store sales assistants, have limited literacy skills and 74 percent have limited math abilities, according to the National Skills Coalition, funded by Walmart Inc.’s charitable arm.
Goodwill to teach classes. But that may not be enough to ill the skill gap. There were more than 700,000 current job openings in retail in March, according to government data.
The retail industry “relied on a largely unskilled entry labor force. Now, it’s leaning more toward skilled people and competing with other
sectors” like technology, said economist Frank Badillo, founder and director of research at MacroSavvy.
The training programs are making diference. Nadine Vixama would have never had a shot without them. Vixama, 42, emigrated from Haiti eight years ago and worked in a money payment business and then at a dry cleaners. But she wanted something that was more about customer service.
She did snag a job at Whole Foods in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, irst as a bagger and now as a cashier, making a little more than $11 an hour. But that was after taking English classes and the store basics program developed by the NRF.
“I’ve learned to treat customers in a better way ... how to keep pace with them,” Vixama said. At another class ofered by a workplace group, she learned about spreadsheet programs like Excel and studied basic accounting.
Vixama just inished the second class, and shadowed a manager at CVS as part of that training. She’s considering an entry-level job at a drugstore and mulling her options.
#01 – Draw In™
By Super Tapx Limited Category: Games / Free
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
#02 – Sling Drift
By Tastypill LLC Category: Games / Free
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
#03 – Love Balls
By Super Tapx Limited Category: Games / Free
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
#04 – Rise Up
By Serkan Ozyilmaz Category: Games / Free
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
#05 – Fortnite
By Chair Entertainment Group Category: Games / Free
Requires iOS 11.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
#06 – Helix Jump
By Voodoo
Category: Games / Free
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
#07 – Instagram
By Instagram, Inc.
Category: Photo & Video / Free
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
#08 – Snapchat
By Snap, Inc.
Category: Photo & Video / Free
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
#10 – Messenger
By Facebook, Inc.
Category: Social Networking / Free
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
#09 – Netlix
By Netlix, Inc.
Category: Entertainment / Free
#01 – GarageBand By Apple
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Category: Social Networking / Free
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#04 – Xcode By Apple
Category: Developer Tools / Free Compatibility: OS X 10.11.5 or later #03 – Open Any File By Rocky Sand Studio Ltd. Category: Utilities / Free
Compatibility: OS X 10.10 or later, 64-bit processor
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By Slack Technologies, Inc. Category: Business / Free
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#09 – HotspotShield VPN & Wii Proxy By AnchorFree Inc.
Category: Productivity / Free
Compatibility: OS X 10.10 or later, 64-bit processor #06 – The Unarchiver
By Dag Agren
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By Chengdu Everimaging Science and Technology Co., Ltd Category: Photography / Free
Compatibility: OS X 10.8 or later, 64-bit processor #07 – 1Doc: Word Processor for Writer ByChengyu Huang
Category: Business / Free
#01 – Heads Up!
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Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
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By Ndemic Creations
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Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
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Requires iOS 10.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
#09 – Geometry Dash
By RobTop Games AB Category: Games / Price: $1.99
#01 – Logic Pro X By Apple
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Compatibility: OS X 10.11 or later, 64-bit processor #08 – iTranslate Translator
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Movies
TV Shows
&
by Rian Johnson
Genre: Action & Adventure Released: 2017
Price: $14.99
2685 Ratings
Star Wars:
The Last Jedi
As the First Order bears down on the remnants of an increasingly beleaguered Resistance leet, Rey (Daisy Ridley) tracks down Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who is in self-imposed exile on the planet Ahch-To. He agrees to train Rey, who keeps receiving confusing visions from an old adversary...
FIVE FACTS:
1. With this ilm, Benicio del Toro, Laura Dern
and Kelly Marie Tran became actors of the Star Wars universe for the irst time.
2. Carrie Fisher reprised her best-known role
as Leia Organa in The Last Jedi but died in December 2016, about a year before the ilm was theatrically released.
3. Rian Johnson is credited as responsible for
all of the directorial and writing duties for this ilm.
4. Audiences have received The Last Jedi
much less favorably than critics, having given it an average score of only 4.6 out of 10 on the Metacritic site.
5. This ilm’s sequel, with the provisional title
of Star Wars: Episode IX, is currently set for theatrical release on December 20, 2019.
Rotten
Tomatoes
Early Man
In this stop-motion animated adventure from the esteemed British studio Aardman, a small-minded Stone Age tribe with
an isolated lifestyle in a large crater are ambushed and kidnapped by a more advanced Bronze Age tribe. The tribes decide to compete in a football match to settle their quarrel.
FIVE FACTS:
1. Early Man is directed by Nick Park, the
animator best known for the Wallace and Gromit franchise.
2. Aardman’s previous feature-length ilm
was Shaun the Sheep Movie, which was released in 2015.
3. Lead character Dug is voiced by the
Academy Award-winning British actor Eddie Redmayne.
4. The British comedian and impressionist
Rob Brydon voices three characters in this ilm: football commentators Brian and Bryan and message-carrying pigeon Message Bird.
5. Despite widely receiving plaudits from
by Nick Park Genre: Comedy Released: 2018 Price: $14.99
32 Ratings
Rotten
Tomatoes
81
%
Music
Genre: Soundtrack Released: May 25, 2018 20 Songs
John Williams & John Powell
This is the soundtrack to Solo: A Star Wars Story, a ilm which follows the young pilot Han Solo before the events of the classic irst Star Wars movie released in 1977. Naturally, John Williams is once again at the helm for this score, having composed cinematic music for Star Wars from the start.
FIVE FACTS:
1. Solo: A Star Wars Story is the second Star
Wars anthology ilm after 2016’s Rogue One.
2. In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Han Solo is played by Alden Ehrenreich, who has said that,
compared to Harrison Ford’s Solo, his version of the character “is more of an idealist”.
3. John Williams has been responsible for
some of cinema’s most loved and recognizable scores, including those of the Jaws, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park ilm series.
4. Williams’ son Joseph is the lead singer of the American rock band Toto.
5. Williams has conirmed that Star Wars:
Love Is Dead
CHVRCHES
Love is Dead is the Scottish synth-pop band’s third studio album and the irst since 2015’s critically acclaimed Every Open Eye. For Love is Dead, the band have roped in Greg Kurstin for co-production duties and also worked alongside Eurythmics’ David Stewart and The National’s Matt Berninger.
FIVE FACTS:
1. CHVRCHES consists of lead vocalist Lauren
Mayberry and Martin Doherty and Iain Cook on synthesizers - and, this year, drummer Jonny Scott joined as a touring musician.
2. Though predominantly a synth-pop band, CHVRCHES have also incorporated elements of electronic dance, indietronica and indie pop into their work.
3. In January, Mayberry let slip the album’s title in an online interview that has since been deleted.
4. The album’s irst single, ‘Get Out’, was released on January 31.
5. Three other singles have since been released from the album, the latest being ‘Miracle’ on April 10.
Genre: Alternative Released: May 25, 2018 13 Songs
Price: $9.99
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” easily topped the Memorial Day weekend box oice charts with $103 million from its irst four days in theaters, but the pricey and troubled production launch failed to meet the high expectations of industry analysts and the precedent set by the three most recent “Star Wars” ilms.
“Solo” efectively kicked “Deadpool 2” to second place in its second weekend in theaters, with $53.8 million, while “Avengers: Ininity War” landed in third place in its ifth weekend with $22.4 million.
“Book Club” took fourth place with $13.1 million, and the Melissa McCarthy comedy “Life of the Party” came in ifth with $6.9 million.
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations,
average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by comScore:
1.
“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Disney, $103,016,812, 4,381 locations, $23,514 average, $103,016,812, 1 Week.2.
“Deadpool 2,” 20th Century Fox, $53,830,329, 4,349 locations,$12,378 average, $218,537,681, 2 Weeks.
3.
“Avengers: Ininity War,” Disney, $22,454,542, 3,768 locations, $5,959 average, $627,649,180, 5 Weeks.4.
“Book Club,” Paramount, $13,121,160, 2,810 locations, $4,669 average,$35,329,170, 2 Weeks.
6.
“Breaking In,” Universal, $5,500,695, 1,985 locations, $2,771 average, $37,089,350, 3 Weeks.7.
“Show Dogs,” Open Road, $4,330,350, 3,212 locations, $1,348 average,$11,925,075, 2 Weeks.
8.
“Overboard,” Lionsgate, $4,138,397, 1,196 locations, $3,460 average, $42,632,810, 4 Weeks.9.
“A Quiet Place,” Paramount, $3,132,531, 1,524 locations,$2,055 average, $180,830,910, 8 Weeks.
11.
“Rampage,” Warner Bros., $1,097,390, 688 locations, $1,595 average, $94,192,405, 7 Weeks.12.
“Super Troopers 2,” 20th Century Fox, $653,973, 221 locations, $2,959 average, $29,954,048, 6 Weeks.13.
“I Feel Pretty,” STX Entertainment, $651,320, 551 locations,$1,182 average, $47,818,453, 6 Weeks.
14.
“Black Panther,” Disney, $608,991, 440 locations, $1,384 average, $698,745,233, 15 Weeks.15.
“Disobedience,” Bleecker Street, $543,114, 224 locations,16.
“Pope Francis - A Man Of His Word,” Focus Features, $444,310,385 locations, $1,154 average, $1,249,775, 2 Weeks.
17.
“Raazi,” Zee Studios International, $439,982, 101 locations,$4,356 average, $2,481,992, 3 Weeks.
18.
“First Reformed,” A24, $373,439, 29 locations, $12,877 average, $516,401, 2 Weeks.19.
“Kasal,” ABS-CBN, $329,153, 57 locations, $5,775 average, $329,153, 1 Week.20.
“Sherlock Gnomes,” Paramount, $316,272, 298 locations,$1,061 average, $42,648,498, 10 Weeks.
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn;
The reaches of the galaxy far, far away might not be quite as vast as previously thought.
In a box-oice blip that echoed through the multiplexes, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” didn’t fare well over the Memorial Day weekend, amassing an estimated $103 million in ticket sales from Thursday night to Monday. Most movies dream of such openings, but the standard for “Star Wars” is diferent, as is the bottom line.
“Solo,” which switched directors
mid-production, cost more than $250 million to make, and it was expected to debut with around $150 million. For the irst time, the
“Star Wars” juggernaut was humbled at the box oice. The opening marked the worst debut in the franchise’s history and Disney’s stock slid 2.5 percent in trading Tuesday.
No one yet needs to run panicked through the streets yelling “Save the Wookies!” But for the irst time since Disney acquired Lucasilm in 2012 for $4.05 billion, the proit potential within George Lucas’ space saga no longer appears limitless.
Instead of opening up a new Han Solo
trilogy, the disappointing arrival of “Solo” only intensiied the questions bubbling around one of the movies’ biggest properties. Is there a ilmmaker beside J.J. Abrams that can win over both die-hards and new fans? How slavish should subsequent sequels and spinofs be to the originals? Is there anyone in China who cares a lick about lightsabers?
“I think they knew they had a problem a long time ago,” said Jef Bock, senior box oice analyst for Exhibitor Relations. “What, 75 percent of
the directors are ired and don’t inish the ilm? You’ve got internal problems.”
“If this is the business of movies now — and these are the ones that are actually in theaters — then it’s got to be this push and pull, constantly,” Kasdan said in an interview ahead of the ilm’s release. “There’s an added thing when you
make a ‘Star Wars’ movie. You run into people in England — and in Marin County but mainly in England — who have been working on it of and on for 40 years. That’s like entering a cult. You have the same people who worked on Chewie’s costume in the original ilm, still working on it.”
Finding a way to propel “Star Wars” forward while maintaining spiritual ties to Lucas’ hallowed original trilogy is only going to get more complicated. Up next is Episode IX, which J.J. Abrams has taken the helm on after Colin Trevorrow was jettisoned. But after that ilm, which in December 2019 will close out the third “Star Wars” trilogy, a leet of sequels and spinofs are planned.
“Last Jedi” writer-director Rian Johnson is developing another trilogy in the main line of ilms. “Game of Thrones” creators D.B. Weiss and David Beniof will write and produce a separate batch of “Star Wars” ilms. Jon Favreau is writing and executive producing a live-action series for Disney’s upcoming streaming platform. James Mangold (“Logan”) is to write and a direct a Boba Fett ilm. Rumors have long swirled about an Obi-Wan Kenobi spinof. And Disney will next year add “Star Wars” villages to its theme parks.
“These irst three ilms that we released did more than $4 billion. This is our fourth movie now in what is our fourth year of having the Lucasilm franchise,” said Dave Hollis, distribution chief for Disney. “It feels a little premature to talk about fatigue. We’re also planning our releases for ‘Star Wars’ movies in the same rooms where we’re planning movies for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And we had ‘Thor,’ ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Ininity War’ in November, February and May, and they were all wildly successful.”
But whether “Star Wars” can be Marvel-iied remains unclear. While the novelizations,
And its international footprint is also missing one very big toe. China, where Lucas’ irst movies weren’t released, has shown scant interest in new “Star Wars” installments. “The Last Jedi” survived only a week in Chinese theaters. “Solo,” which earned a relatively paltry $65 million overseas, did even worse, opening with just $10.1 million in the
world’s second largest moviegoing market — an untenable black hole for any global blockbuster today.
“China in particular requires a longer conversation and probably a longer
deployment of a strategy to introduce, in
many instances, characters that other countries have had the beneit of growing up with,” said Hollis. “So it will take some work.”
Bock believes Lucasilm needs to get more creative with “Star Wars,” trust ilmmakers to experiment, try an R-rated ilm and do
whatever it takes to boost popularity in China. “If that means hiring Dwayne Johnson for the next one, then that’s what you do,” says Bock. “He’s the franchise ixer.”
But the best solution for “Star Wars” might be even simpler. A full half — and, arguably, the clearly weaker half — of the “Star Wars” canon follows events leading up to “A New Hope.” “Solo,” “Rogue One” and Lucas’ little-loved 1999-2005 trilogy all function as preludes for what’s the come.
An Indianapolis institute devoted to quickly moving research from university laboratories to the marketplace has won a $33 million federal grant.
Money from the National Institutes of Health will allow the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute to continue its research into ways of improving human health and reducing disease.
The institute, founded in 2008, enlists researchers and staf from Indiana University, Purdue
University and the University of Notre Dame.
It recently launched an “All IN for Health” initiative that aims to sign up at least 100,000 Indiana residents as volunteers for its health research registry.
Program director Tifany Campbell says the institute needs to more fully understand the health of Indiana’s diverse populations “to come up with more successful solutions that will last.”
INDIANAPOLIS
SCIENCE INSTITUTE
The Boeing Co. says it will give $1.5 million to support science, technology, engineering and math programs at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.
Among other things, the money will expand the museum’s annual robotics challenge from a one-state event to a regional tournament, so students from Mississippi, Alabama and Texas can also compete, the museum said in a news release last week. Finals will be at the museum. The irst four
competitions were all at the museum. Teams from Mississippi and Alabama occasionally competed, but nearly all were from Louisiana, museum spokesman Keith Darcey said.
The competition for students in grades three through eight uses themes from World War II — often tying in with an exhibit — to set up tasks in which teams can compete. For instance, this year’s theme was “The Pelican State Goes to War.” The 37 teams that competed on May 12 could choose from among 14 tasks symbolizing such things as oil production, the Louisiana Maneuvers war games, and prisoners of war, generally by moving items from one spot to another. Each team had 3 minutes and 20 seconds to complete its chosen tasks.
The theme of next year’s contest will be “Arsenal of Democracy: The Home Front.”
The donation also will add three new interactive exhibits to the STEM Innovation Gallery, looking at technological breakthroughs during the
war. They’ll be titled Gears and Generators, Internal Combustion and Turbochargers, and Exponential Growth of Bacteria, and will explain how innovations helped planes ly at lower altitudes and how controlling bacteria growth led to lower mortality rates.
The museum began its STEM education program in 2012. It currently ofers STEM
education ield trips and summer science camps to over 1,000 students annually, and hosts
President Donald Trump is asking the government to make it easier for private companies to get to and from space.
Trump signed the space policy directive last week. He was joined at the White House by Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the National Space Council.
During a meeting at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in February, Pence and other council members recommended the government ease restrictions on private U.S. companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin. The reforms are meant to get businesses moving faster and farther into space.
White House oicials say little change is expected until next year, after the new regulations are written and reviewed.
“There are many innovative companies across this nation working hard to build a bright future in space, and our policies should help ensure their success on all fronts,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement.
Trump’s irst space policy directive, signed in December, puts the moon ahead of Mars for astronaut visits.
President Donald Trump’s hard-line views on trade, a staple of his message long before he entered politics, are beginning to collide with the cold realities of global geopolitics.
Trade talks on China and the North American Free Trade Agreement have hit stumbling blocks, posing a challenge for a president who vowed to make trade deals more equitable for the United States during his 2016 campaign and who famously tweeted that trade wars are “easy to win.”
Trump’s trade agenda — at least lately — has not been so easy.
Trump’s administration announced plans Tuesday to slap $50 billion worth of tarifs on Chinese technology while taking steps to impose new investment restrictions and export controls, aimed at pushing China to remove trade barriers that make it diicult for U.S. companies to do business in China.
NOT SO EASY:
TRUMP’S TRADE
AGENDA HITS
STUMBLING
The new action came after the administration said earlier this month that it had suspended plans to impose $150 billion in tarifs for now and the president tweeted last week that a “diferent structure” would be needed in the trade talks involving the world’s two largest economies.
The president has bemoaned the massive U.S. trade deicit with China — $337 billion last year — as evidence that Beijing has been complicit in abusive trading practices and outsmarted his predecessors.
Pointing to a pause in the trade dispute, the administration had pointed to China’s plans to “signiicantly increase” its purchases of U.S. goods and services and make
“meaningful increases” in U.S. exports of agriculture and energy products. Financial markets, wary of a calamitous trade war, were relieved.
But Beijing did not agree to any speciic dollar amounts, despite the Trump administration’s push to lower the U.S. trade deicit by at least $200 billion. And doubts remain about whether China will address allegations the Chinese engage in cybertheft of trade secrets, force U.S. companies to transfer some of their technology in exchange for market access or back away from its China 2025 plan to dominate emerging technologies.
Separately, on Friday, the U.S. reached a deal on ZTE Corp. that will allow the Chinese
